Setting suggestions for Time lapse

[Uplooker]

Hi,

I am looking for suggestions on the settings I should / could use for time lapse.

I wish to image the heavens, not interested, as yet, what is in the field of view. However, I think it might be good to capture the Milky Way moving across the the FoV.

I do suffer from LP, not badly, but enough. I am just practicing prior to going to a very dark site.

I can use either a Manfrotto or EQ3 mount and will be using a Canon 450D with a 18-55 stock lens. I have been out in the daylight to achieve infinity focus. I am going to run the camera off my 75Ah battery and use APT for the camera settings.

I am thinking that an exposure length of 20-30 Sec, ISO800.

How many exposures and what duration should I leave between each exposure to be able to achieve a suitable time lapse of 30 - 60 secs ????

Thanks in advance.

[Yawning Angel]

The maths looks something like this:

500 / focal length = approx max exposure before trails (include the crop factor)

500 / (18mm x 1.6) = 17.36secs. I’d round that down to 15secs then balance the iso to suit

Maybe one every 30 seconds? That’d net you 120 per hour which is 4 seconds at 30fps, and allows the camera to write the file and stay cool between shots

 

[Demon Barber]

Hi Ian,have a word with David ( wackyscot ) when you get up to Galloway,he does quite a bit of timelapse.

Mike

[Uplooker]

As a tester I have gone with 30s, 30s pause at 800 ISO. Ah, forgot to set the f number

[Uplooker]

Well I have had a couple of attempts. Firstly on Friday night, which was the clearest and secondly on Saturday which was not as clear. I am treating all of this as a learning experience.

On Friday I went with 30s, 30s pause at 800 ISO. but as I said previously I forgot to set the f number which turned out to be f25. Yes, they came out a bit dark! I also forgot to fit a dew band, so the lens dewed up completely.

Second attempt on Saturday I remembered the f number setting, I used 7.1 and the dew band but I completely forgot to focus the lens in daylight. I tried a number of different methods for focusing - auto focus and liveview, ended up just doing a number of test shot and then zooming in and adjusting the focus each time. As you will see I was way off in the focus department.

I have not done any processing on the images. I used Time Lapse Creator to stitch the images together with an interval of 0.04secs per frame.

Camera: Canon 450d

Lens: Canon stock 18-55mm lens

Frames: 112 off at f7.1, ISO 800 20s with 20s pause between.

I know this will not win any prizes but thought est topost my results, having asked for advice.

I will look at getting a 50mm prime lens. Any advice on what to goo for would be appreciated.

 

 

[Jonk]

Here's one I did a while ago, still learning but I was happy with this at the time:

184 frames taken with a Baader modified Canon 6D, Samyang 14mm 2.8 lens, 15 second exposures at ISO 6400. Fixed tripod.

Open your aperture right up and try that... don't be afraid to bump up the iso either.

To get really sharp stars etc, a tracking mount is highly recommended, like the star adventurer which has a timelapse feature.

I've played with mine but don't have anything worth sharing.

 

 

 

[Uplooker]

Hi Jonk,

Thats good! This the first time I have ever tried doing this. Thought about it a lot, just never got my finger out?

I need to get a faster lens. As I am using a Canon 450d with an APS-C sensor a EF-S would be best.

The Samyang Lens you used is a bit more than I want to spend. I have been looking at the Canon EF-S 24mm f/2.8 STM as well as the Sigma 10-20mm f/3.5. Not sure I fully understand which one would give me the better results, appreciating the difference in cost.

Any advice you may be able to proffer would be great fully received.

[Jonk]

If you're using a fixed tripod, the widest, fastest lens you can afford will make a big difference, as will the camera (aps-c vs full frame).

With a 450D and 24mm lens I doubt anything above 8-10 second exposures will be streak free or exposed enough to get a good amount of stars in the image through the noise.

Another bit of advice is to look for a manual lens, as with all automatic lenses the aperture changes on every shot and you end up with flicker in the final video due to slightly different levels of exposure in each shot.

It really isn't easy and is an art in itself, but the key is to practice, experiment, don't give up and use a dark site if possible otherwise the lp will drive you nuts.

Just keep trying! It's like learning an instrument... basics in the first year, then a lifetime to master it.

A good website for timelapse info is lonelyspeck.com

[Uplooker]

Well I have managed another go at a time lapse. I had planned on doing a couple while I was up at Galloway SP but the skies didnt play ball and when they did on the Saturday night I was more concerned with using my Dob.

Here is my latest effort. Taken this evening, 9th Oct, with Canon 450d and standard 18-55mm lens at 18mm. 200 off images of 20s with a pause of 20s between each on a Manfrotto fixed tripod. I ran the frames through Time Lapse Creator. I have not done any post processing on the frames - as yet. I think I have managed to improve focus from last time as well as the sky remaining clear for the duration.

I am still looking at better / faster lenses but that may take a bit of time as I need to save the cash.

Thanks for looking

[Yawning Angel]

That looks to have worked well! Nice one